Days turned to weeks, and weeks into months as Dusty spent more and more time reading books and learning about Equestria. He knew he was trapped in this room, this prison in the palace. When he felt well enough to walk around, he quickly found that not only was the door to his room locked, but guards had been placed outside. He heard them talking to each other. Apparently they did not know what was in the room and Celestia did not speak to them when she entered. He enjoyed his time with her, the only other pony he ever saw face to face. He spent many hours, though, sitting in front of the window, watching the goings on of Canterlot. He found himself giving the various ponies random names and stories of their own. They had interesting, if slightly twisted lives in his mind.
Sometimes when Celestia visited, she would read to him. But, usually she brought him new books to read on his own and taught him things about the world he lived in. He could not ask, but she never told him why he was forbidden to speak. And sometimes when she caught him staring at her searchingly, she would tear up and excuse herself from the room. Lately, however, she had been spending less and less time with him. Once he overheard the guards talking about a very gifted young unicorn named Twilight Sparkle who had become her prized student. Dusty hated this Twilight Sparkle at first, blaming her for keeping the princess away from him so much. After a while, he resigned himself to his fate as best he could. One rainy night he was pouring over a tome about monsters and their habitats when he heard the voice of a young filly talking to the guards about the room. He immediately raced over to the door, and strained to make out what the voices were saying.
“What do you mean this room is off limits? I thought everywhere in the palace was okay to visit. Are there monsters in there? Or maybe treasure?”
Dusty smiled wryly to himself. Monsters -- that must be it. That is what he was: a monster. The guards did not reply, but he heard hoofsteps. Then he heard the princess’s voice scolding the young filly.
“Twilight sparkle, you must NEVER try and enter this room, do you understand? Now get back to your studies!” Twilight sparkle tried to protest, but Celestia snapped at her with a “NOW!” and the filly raced off, sobbing. There was silence for a long moment, and then he heard Celestia's voice speaking to him against the door. “I am sorry,” she said sadly, then trotted away, leaving him alone once again…
Dusty lost track of the time, having given himself to his fate. He left the window curtains open as often as he could, the view being his only real experience of life outside since his accident. He tried to find out everything he could about what may have happened to him when he fell, what the old images and sounds were. He quickly noticed, however, that Celestia was careful not to let him read certain books about ancient pony history. Once, she caught him cross referencing some things he found and quickly put a stop to it, simply saying that even knowing too much might be harmful. He spent several weeks in a thoughtful funk after that and ignored Celestia when she visited. She gave Dusty the time he needed and sat quietly, figuring it was perhaps a small kindness. It was during this time that he started planning his escape.
Dusty knew that he was magically prevented from speaking, and that the height of his room made it impossible for him to smash the window and escape. He could not fly, after all. He had no magical horn, so magic was out of the question; maybe he could trick the guards? Celestia had been gone for some time. She had not visited him in over a week, so Dusty decided that maybe some strange noises from inside would cause the guards to investigate. He did not want to get them into trouble. They were only during their duty, but he was a prisoner. As much as he liked Celestia, she was his jailer. So, Dusty waited until the middle of the night, after his meal had magically appeared like it always had. He moved silently to the door. It was a big and heavy oak affair, with iron hinges. Being trapped in the room did not make him the most athletic of ponies, but he turned his back to the door and bucked it with all his might. The door shuddered on its hinges and he heard the guards; there were muffled exclamations of surprise. The buck left his hind legs hurting, but he took a deep breath and bucked again. This time he heard the guards move and speak to each other, debating whether to open the door. Dusty's heart leapt in his chest. He began pounding at the door with his hind legs until he heard the sound of a bolt being pulled back and the murmured discussion of possible thieves inside the palace.
Dusty backed off of the door and waited to dash past the guards and to freedom. He could barely contain his anxiety as the door began to slowly open. Suddenly, he heard the familiar shout of the princess.
“GUARDS! What in Equestria do you think you are doing! Lock that door at once!” Celestia sounded as scared as she was angry. After berating the guards, she let herself in, finding Dusty ready to dash out the door. She closed it behind her with a sigh, and stared at the colt. “I hoped you would understand that you cannot leave. I am sorry, but I’m a little disappointed with you. I do not want you to get hurt and I do not want others being hurt either. You are a danger to everypony, Dustin.”
Her sad eyes watched him as Dusty collapsed into tears on the floor without the gift—the release -- of expressing his sadness and frustration through words. Celestia watched him for a long moment, but the anguish he felt was too much for her to bear. She left him alone again.
Dusty tried his best to lose himself in the books he read. He struggled to live through these ponies and their adventures and stories; their heartache and their triumph. Deep down, though, his heart ached. He was lonely, angry, and bitter. As much as he tried to deny it, he hated these other ponies, they had freedom, lives, families...The thought of his parents brought tears to his eyes. It always did. But at least these days he did not break down into breathless sobs every time he thought of them. Dusty lay on the floor for a long while, pondering the stories in the book he was reading when he heard frantic voices outside his room.
“Celestia has vanished!” shouted one of the guards outside of his door.
“What? What do you mean?” cried the other guard, horrified. “It's the Summer solstice Celebration, isn’t she going to Ponyville to raise the sun?”
“Yeah, but she never made it. She just vanished into thin air it seems.”
Dusty felt his chest tighten, Celestia was missing? What could that mean? Where could she have gone? Was she okay? His thoughts were filled with worry for the princess, and without thinking he raced to the door and pounded on it, opening his mouth to beg the guards to let him out.
What happened next was something Dusty had a hard time remembering. What came out of his mouth was noise – more than noise. Not noise. Not words. But something; something that cut the air, hurt his ears, and suddenly the door and guards were just...gone. Shattered bits of door and empty, twisted armor lay on the floor.
Dusty was too terrified to even think, and he simply bolted blindly out into the corridor, racing through the palace. He had no idea where he was going; every voice caused him to cower in the shadows. His heart beating so fast that he thought his chest would burst. He was not sure how, but Dusty found himself in a small courtyard near the palace entrance. His panic subsided enough for him to look around. It was unnaturally dark and very quiet. Dusty had no idea where he should go. Then, he remembered what the guard had said: Ponyville. That is where the princess was heading. Maybe if he headed there he could find her; or he could find out what happened. It was then that it finally dawned on dusty...he was free! Free from the room! Free from imprisonment! His mind raced as he thought about this. If he found Celestia, she would possibly imprison him again. On the other hand, he cared about her. She had been the only pony companion he had had for the majority of his life. What if she were lost, or scared? What if she were hurt? That settled it for him, he would go to Ponyville. He would find Celestia and he would deal with anyone who tried to stop him.